Medicinal plants are considered as a rich resources of ingredients which can be used in drug development. More than 30% of the entire plant species, at one time or other were used for medicinal purposes. It has been estimated that in developed countries like United States, plant drugs constitute as much as 25% of the total drugs, while in fast developing countries like India and China the contribution is as much as 80%. These countries provide two third of the plants used in modern system of medicine and the health care system of rural population depend on indigenous systems of medicine. Most of the drugs are considered very safe as there is no or minimal side effects.

1. Sem.V, Paper-XII
ECONOMIC BOTANY
Unit 4: Drug Yielding Plants
Dr. Seema A. Gaikwad
Dept. of Botany
Vidnyan Mahavidyalaya, Sangola

2. Unit 4: Drug Yielding Plants
Medicinal plants are considered as a rich resources of ingredients
which can be used in drug development. More than 30% of the entire
plant species, at one time or other were used for medicinal purposes.
It has been estimated that in developed countries like United States,
plant drugs constitute as much as 25% of the total drugs, while in
fast developing countries like India and China the contribution is as
much as 80%. These countries provide two third of the plants used
in modern system of medicine and the health care system of rural
population depend on indigenous systems of medicine. Most of the
drugs are considered very safe as there is no or minimal side effects

3. Unit 4: Drug Yielding Plants
These days, medicines come from a variety of sources. Many were developed
from substances found in nature, and even today many are extracted
from plants. In Indigenous Systems of Medicines like Ayurveda, Siddha,
Unani, Yoga, Homeopathy and Naturopathy system, medical doctors and
other healthcare professionals (such as nurses, pharmacists, and
therapists) treat symptoms and diseases using drugs. Some allopathic
medicines are made in labs by mixing together a number of chemicals.
WHO ( World Health Organization) defined drug as, “Drug is any
substance or product used or intended to be used to modify or explore the
physiological state or pathological condition for the well being of the recipient.
The science that deals with the study of drugs and its effect on
biological system is known as pharmacology.

4. Unit 4: Drug Yielding Plants
Plants, animals, micro-organisms and minerals are the natural sources of
drugs while semisynthetic and synthetic drugs are also available. The
active ingredients and the main effective compounds in all drug yielding
plants are present in the form of complex chemical substances of different
compositions. Important pharmacological active principles in plants are:
• Alkaloids
• Glycosides
• Oils
• Resins
• Gums
• Tannins
Every drug has three names-Chemical name, Nonproprietary name
(Official/Generic name) & Proprietary name(Trade/Brand name)
Chemical name: These are given according to the chemical constitution
of drug.
Nonproprietary name: It is assigned by the United States Adopted
Name(USAN) Council. It is uniform all over the world.
Proprietary name: It is given by the pharmaceutical manufacturer.
e.g. - Acetyl Salicylic acid - Asparin - Disprin/Ecosprin(India), Bayer’s
Aspirin (USA)

5. Unit 4: Drug Yielding Plants
The classification of drug yielding plant is different on the basis of
different criteria. It is very convenient to use criteria based on morphology
of useful plant parts from which active ingredients of drug is obtained.
These parts may be roots, stem, rhizomes, leaves, buds, flowers, fruits etc.
A) Rhizome – Zingiber officinale
B) Root – Withania somnifera
C) Stem – Tinospora cordifolia
D) Leaf – Adhatoda zeylanica.
E) Floral bud – Syzigium aromaticum
F) Fruit – Emblica officinalis

6. A. Rhizome – Zingiber officinale
Botanical Name : Zingiber officinale
Family : Zingiberaceae.
Common names : Ginger, African
ginger, Black ginger, Cochin ginger,
Gan jiang, Gegibre, Ingwer, Jamaican
ginger, Race ginger
Common Vernacular name: Ale, Adrak
Source of Drug : Fresh and Dried
underground rhizome
Ginger is the underground root or rhizome that is
used for culinary and medicinal purposes.
Indigenous to warm tropical climates, It is
widely distributed in tropical Asia, Africa,
India, Jamaica, Mexico, and Hawaii.
In India, it is cultivated mainly in Kerala,
Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
and Maharashtra.

7. A. Rhizome – Zingiber officinale
Morphology: Ginger is a 2 - 4-foot-tall perennial herb with grass like dark green leaves up
to a foot in length. Rhizomes are lobed pale yellowish, aromatic. Flowers in spikes- greenish
yellow or reddish pink.
Chief constituents used in Indigenous and allopathic systems:
• In the fresh ginger rhizome, the gingerols were identified as the major active
components.
• It contains 2-3% volatile oil. The volatile oil consists of mainly mono and sesquiter–
penes; camphene, beta-phellandrene, curcumene, cineole, geranyl acetate, terphineol,
terpenes, borneol, geraniol, limonene, linalool, alpha-zingiberene (30-70%).
• Dried ginger powder contains, pungent substances namely gingerol, shogaol, zingerone
and paradol.
• The oleoresin has also been found to contain zingiberol, the principal aroma contributing
component as well as zingiberene.
• The minerals present in ginger are iron, calcium and phosphorous. It also contains
vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and vitamin C.

8. A. Rhizome – Zingiber officinale
Medicinal Uses of Ginger:
• Ginger is used against nausea and vomiting (antiemetic) during motion sickness and
seasickness
• To reduce vomiting in patients treated with cytotoxic compounds
• To promote digestion and as an anti-flatulent or carminative to reduce gas and bloating
• To improve blood circulation
• To lower blood glucose in the treatment of diabetes
• To treat migraine headache
• As a sialagogue (drug that promotes secretion of saliva), to promote salivation
• The active components of ginger is reported to stimulate digestion, absorption, relieve
constipation and flatulence by increasing muscular activity in the digestive tract.
• Ginger has strong antibacterial and to some extent antifungal properties.
• Ginger lowers the clotting ability of the blood. Ginger can prevent the increase in cholesterol
levels.

9. B. Root – Withania somnifera
Botanical Name : Withania somnifera
Family : Solanaceae.
Common names : Indian winter cherry
Common Vernacular name: Ashwgandha
Source of Drug: Roots, Leaves
seeds, flowers
Withania somnifera is cultivated in
many of the drier regions of India. It
is also found in Nepal, Sri Lanka,
China, and Yemen. It prefers dry
stony soil with sun to partial shade.
To propagate it can be grown from
seed in the early spring, or from
greenwood cuttings in the later
spring. The root smells like horse
(“ashwa”), that is why it is called
Ashwagandha (on consuming it
gives the power of a horse)

10. B. Root – Withania somnifera
Morphology: The plant is erect, branched, undershrub with minute stellate hair on
the surface of stem and branches, leaves ovate, flowers greenish or yellowish in
axillary fascicles, fruit globose berry-orange when ripe enclosed in persistent calyx.
The drug is in the form of fleshy roots which are used when dried.
Chief constituents used in Indigenous and allopathic systems:
• The major chemical constituents of the Withania genus, the withanolides, are a
group of naturally occurring C28-steroidal lactone triterpenoids.
• Alkaloids, steroidal lactones, saponins, and withanolides are considered the
biologically active components of Ashwagandha.
• The active anticancer component was identified as triethylene glycol (TEG), in
addition to low level of Withaferin A and Withanone,
• Among the various alkaloids, withanine is the main constituent.

11. B. Root – Withania somnifera
Medicinal Uses of Ashwgandha:
• It is used in treating a wide variety of illnesses including asthma, diabetes,
hypertension, stress, arthritic diseases, and cancer
• The root of Ashwagandha is regarded as tonic, aphrodisiac, narcotic, diuretic,
anthelmintic, astringent, thermogenic and stimulant
• It is commonly used in emaciation of children (when given with milk, it is
the best tonic for children)
• Used in debility from old age, rheumatism, vitiated conditions of vata,
leucoderma, constipation, insomnia, nervous breakdown, goiter etc.
• The paste formed when roots are crushed with water is applied to reduce the
inflammation at the joints
• It is also locally applied in carbuncles, ulcers and painful swellings

12. B. Root – Withania somnifera
Medicinal Uses of Ashwgandha:
• The root in combination with other drugs is prescribed for snake venom as
well as in scorpion-sting.
• It also helps in leucorrhoea, boils, pimples, flatulent colic, worms and
piles.
• The leaves are bitter and are recommended in fever, painful swellings.
• The flowers are astringent, depurative, diuretic and aphrodisiac.
• The seeds are anthelmintic and combined with astringent and rock salt
remove white spots from the cornea.
• It also helps in leucorrhoea, boils, pimples, flatulent colic, worms and piles
• Ashwagandharishta prepared from it is used in hysteria, anxiety, memory
loss, syncope, etc

13. C. Stem – Tinospora cordifolia
Botanical Name : Tinospora cordifolia
Family : Menispermaceae
Common names : Giloy, Guduchi, Amrita
Common Vernacular name : Gulvel
Source of Drug: Roots, Stems
Tinospora cordifolia is a
large, glabrous, deciduous
climbing shrub, distributed
throughout the tropical
Indian subcontinent and
Srilanka, Bangladesh,
China, ascending to an
altitude of 300 m. Also
found in tropics of Asia,
Africa and Australia,
mainly in Indo-Malayan
region.

14. C. Stem – Tinospora cordifolia
Morphology: The plant is a large, glabrous, deciduous, climbing shrub.
The stem structure is fibrous, rather succulent with long filiform fleshy
aerial roots from the branches, Stem appears in varying thicknesses,
ranging from 0.6 to 5 cm in diameter; young stems are green with
smooth surfaces and swelling at nodes, while the older ones show a light
brown surface marked with warty protuberances due to circular lenticels.
The bark is creamy white to grey, deeply left spirally and stem contains
rosette like lenticels. The leaves are membranous and cordate in shape.
Flowers are in axillary position, 2-9 cm long raceme on leaflet branches,
unisexual, small and yellow in color. Male flowers are clustered and
female are usually solitary. The seeds are curved. Fruits are fleshy and

15. C. Stem – Tinospora cordifolia
Chief constituents used in Indigenous and allopathic systems:
• A variety of active components derived from the plant like alkaloids,
steroids, diterpenoid lactones, phenolics, aliphatics, and cardiac
glycosides have been isolated from the different parts of the plant
body, including root, stem, and whole plant
• Up to now, 223 compounds have been isolated from genus Tinospora,
including tannins, flavonoids, saponins, polysaccharides, the major
phytoconstituents
• Within these compounds, diterpenoids are the most dominant
constituent

16. C. Stem – Tinospora cordifolia
Medicinal Uses of Gulvel (Guduchi):
• It is a widely used plant in folk and Ayurvedic systems of medicine. It has an importance in
traditional Ayurvedic medicine used for ages in the treatment of fever, jaundice, chronic
diarrhea, cancer, dysentery, bone fracture, pain, asthma, skin disease, poisonous insect, snake
bite, eye disorders.
• The stem is widely used in the therapy of diabetes by regulating the blood glucose in
traditional folk medicine of India
• The stem is stomachic, diuretic stimulates bile secretion, enriches the blood and cures jaundice
• The root and stem of T. cordifolia are prescribed in combination with other drugs as an anti-
dote to snake bite and scorpion sting
• Juice or decoction of leaves is administered orally with honey in fever
• Recently, the plant is of great interest to researchers across the globe because of its reported
medicinal properties like anti-diabetic, anti-periodic, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anti-
arthritic, anti-oxidant, anti-allergic, anti-stress, anti-leprotic, anti-malarial, hepatoprotective,
immunomodulatory and anti-neoplastic activities.

17. D. Leaf – Adhatoda zeylanica
Botanical Name : Adathoda zeylanica
Family : Acanthaceae
Common names : Vasaka, Malabar nut
Common Vernacular name : Adulsa
Source of Drug: Leaves, Roots, flowers
bark
It is indigenous to India. This
plant occurs throughout india
in wild condition except
mountian regions. Outside
India it is found in Srilanka,
Bangladesh, Burma and
Malaya. ascending to an
altitude of 300 m. Also found in
tropics of Asia, Africa and
Australia, mainly in Indo-
Malayan region.

18. D. Leaf – Adhatoda zeylanica
Morphology: It is a evergreen shrub about 2.2 - 3.5 meters high, which have long
leaves and white flowers in axillary spike. Leaves are long and dark green in
colour.
Chief constituents used in Indigenous and allopathic systems:
• Quinazoline alkaloids present in the leaves are established as active principles.
• The principle constituents of Vasaka are its several alkaloids, the chief one
being vasicine. The leaves contain two major alkaloids called vasicine and vasicinone.
The pharmacological activities of vasicine and vasicinone are well known.
• The leaves of Vasaka are rich in vitamin C, carotene and an essential oil.
• The leaves of Adhatoda contain several biologically active phytochemicals such as
alkaloids, tannins, saponins, phenolics and flavonoids.
• It mainly consists of pyrroquinazoline, alkaloids, viz. vasicine, vasicol, vasicinone,
peganine along with other minor constituents.

19. D. Leaf – Adhatoda zeylanica
Medicinal Uses of Adulsa:
• It has been used in traditional Indian medicine for thousands of years to treat respiratory
disorders. The leaves, roots, flowers, and bark of this plant is useful in treating asthma,
bronchitis, tuberculosis and other lung and bronchiole disorders.
• A decoction of the leaves of Vasaka may be used to help with cough and other symptoms
of colds. The soothing action helps irritation in the throat and the expectorant will help
loosen phlegm deposits in the throat.
• It has been used to control both internal and external bleeding such as peptic ulcers, piles
and bleeding gums.
• A poultice of its leaves can be applied with beneficial results over fresh wounds, rheumatic
joints and inflammatory swellings.
• The juice from its leaves should be given in doses of 2 to 4 grams in treating diarrhoea and
dysentery.
• A warm decoction of its leaves is useful in treating scabies and other skin diseases.

20. E. Floral bud – Syzigium aromaticum
Botanical Name : Syzigium aromaticum
Family : Myrtaceae
Common names : Clove
Common Vernacular name : Lawang
Source of Drug: dried flower buds, leaves,
stems
It is indigenous to the
Molluccas Islands of
Eastern Indonesia. Clove is
grown in parts of Asia and
South America. Tanzania,
Pemba, Madagasker,
Malaysia, Shrilanka, India
are clove growing
countries. People use the
oils, dried flower buds,
leaves, and stems to make
medicine.

21. E. Floral bud – Syzigium aromaticum
Morphology: The clove tree is an evergreen that grows up to 8–12 metres (26–39 ft) tall, with
large leaves and crimson flowers grouped in terminal clusters. The flower buds initially have a
pale hue, gradually turn green, then transition to a bright red when ready for harvest. Cloves are
harvested at 1.5–2 centimetres (0.59–0.79 in) long, and consist of a long calyx that terminates in
four spreading sepals, and four unopened petals that form a small central ball.
Chief constituents used in Indigenous and allopathic systems:
• The major volatile constituent of clove bud is essential oil Eugenol (76.8%), followed by β-
caryophyllene (17.4%), α-humulene (2.1%), and eugenyl acetate (1.2%).
• The main constituents of the essential oil are phenylpropanoids such as carvacrol,
thymol, eugenol and cinnamaldehyde
• Other important essential oil constituents of clove oil include acetyl eugenol, beta-
caryophyllene, vanillin, crategolic acid, tannins such as bicornin, gallotannic acid, methyl
salicylate (painkiller), the flavonoids eugenin, kaempferol, rhamnetin, and eugenitin,
triterpenoids such as oleanolic acid, stigmasterol, and campesterol and several sesquiterpenes

22. E. Floral bud – Syzigium aromaticum
Medicinal Uses of Clove:
• Traditionally, cloves have been used for centuries in the treatment
of vomiting; flatulence; nausea; liver, bowel and stomach disorders; and as a
stimulant for the nerves.
• In tropical Asia, cloves have been documented to relieve different
microorganisms as scabies, cholera, malaria, and tuberculosis.
• Clove is most commonly applied directly to the gums for toothache, pain
control during dental work, and other dental-related issues.
• In addition to its antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal and antiviral activity,
clove essential oil possesses anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, analgesic, insect
repellent and anesthetic properties.

23. F. Fruit – Emblica officinalis
Botanical Name : Emblica officinalis
Family : Euphorbiaceae
Common names : Indian gooseberry
Common Vernacular name : Amla, Awala
Source of Drug: dried and fresh fruits,
leaves, seed,root, bark and flowers.
It grows in tropical and
subtropical parts of China,
India, Indonesia along
exposed hill slopes in dry
deciduous forests above
800 to 1500 meter. It is a
plant originally native to
India but is today also
found growing in
Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Shri
Lanka, Southeast Asia and
Malaysia.

24. F. Fruit – Emblica officinalis
Morphology: The tree is small to medium in size, reaching 1–8 m in height. The branchlets
are not glabrous or finely pubescent, 10–20 cm long, usually deciduous; the leaves are simple,
subsessile and closely set along branchlets, light green, resembling pinnate leaves. The flowers
are greenish-yellow. The fruit is nearly spherical, light greenish-yellow, quite smooth and hard on
appearance, with six vertical stripes or furrows.
Chief constituents used in Indigenous and allopathic systems:
• The fruit of Amla is rich in vitamin ‘C’ (ascorbic acid).
• It contains several bioactive phytochemicals, of which majority are of polyphenols (ellagic acid,
chebulinic acid, gallic acid, chebulagic acid, apeigenin, quercetin, corilagin, leutolin, etc.)
• Amla also contains punicafolin and phyllanemblinin A, phyllanemblin other polyphenols, such
as flavonoids, kaempferol etc.
• It have a bitter taste that may derive from a high density of ellagitannins such as emblicanin A
(37%), emblicanin B (33%), punigluconin (12%), and pedunculagin (14%)
• Contains phytochemicals including fixed oils, phosphatides, essential oils, tannins, minerals,
vitamins, amino acids, fatty acids, glycosides, etc.

25. F. Fruit – Emblica officinalis
Medicinal Uses of Amla:
• Fruit is highly nutritious and is reported as an important dietary source of vitamin C,
minerals and amino acids.
• Amla possesses anti-diabetic, hypolipedemic, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory,
antioxidant, hepatoprotective and anti-emetic activities.
• The drug is used as single and as ingredient in various compound formulations like
Chyavanaprasa, Dhatriloha, Amalaki Rasayana, Dhatryarishta, Triphala Churn etc.
• Emblica exhibits strong antioxidant activity.
• It is one of the most important plants in the traditional Ayurvedic medical system as
well as in other traditional health systems for immunomodulatory, anti-
inflammatory, antiulcer, hepatoprotective, and anticancer actions.
• The amla fruit is eaten raw or cooked into various dishes amle ka murabbah.
• Commonly used in inks, shampoos and hair oils, the high tannin content of Indian gooseberry
fruit serves as a mordant for fixing dyes in fabrics.